DE MINIMIS CURAT LEX.

Abstract

There is a great deal of civil litigation in Urban areas and courts are unable to deal efficiently and justly with the cases that are brought before them. Additionally, there are many cases concerning a small amount of money and disputes in which citizens are in lower and middle economic classes that are never brought before the courts. The nature of the judicial system discourages these small claims but even these relatively small claims may be significant in relation to the income of some of these potential litigants. Handling this problem needs to be done through the small claims court. The original limit was only fifty dollars but is increasing in addition to more requirements being added. Even if the requirements for these courts are met and litigants are successful, enforcing claims is an additional problem. Small claims court provides an efficient and economical way for consumers to obtain redress for small claims but the court has not lived up to its original goal as a court that is readily available for redress in that it has unduly limited its scope of jurisdiction and powers.